This
was hosted by Lisa, a Long Island yoga teacher with MS who must
practice the principles many people take for granted in yoga. It
benefited the Kathleen
Valachi Memorial Fund for Home Health Aide Assistance Program. The
program focuses on those with MS requiring home health aide assistance, a
boon to caregivers, patients and families. My own mother’s nurses
helped my father avoid his one true heartbreaking fear: having to put
her in a nursing facility.

Lisa
had recently recovered from a horrifying relapse before the event, and
was sent home to 3 kids. She was denied a home health aide, never
received speech therapy, occupational therapy and was limited to only 6
visits of physical therapy. She was unable to walk, cook or complete
simple tasks. It was up to her friends to take care of her. Not everyone
has that luxury, especially those that have become isolated or
abandoned due to their illness.It is a broken system that denies humane coverage and help to the neediest.

The
event moved me a great deal. It raised money, of course, but it united a
variety of abilities, practices and stories. It brought awareness to a
community, to the body and mind. Yoga in NYC is a competitive, strenuous
and anxious practice- I know I frequently checked my IPhone during
shavasana. But here, I watched a woman affected deeply by MS symptoms
work hard, so hard, to get into Warrior I that I felt ashamed. Yoga is
meant to balance, align and heal. Watching the work and love of the
attendees, I remembered that balance is more than physical.